Race, gender and willingness to compete

Abstract

This paper contributes to the growing body of work investigating differences in willingness to compete. While most existing work has focussed on gender differences, this research also investigates differences in competitiveness by race. The data show that Black respondents in South Africa are more willing to compete than White respondents, driven mostly by differences in competitiveness between Black and White females. The common finding of women being less competitive than men is also replicated, with this gender difference noted among both Black and White respondents. The analysis shows that competitiveness is associated with higher household incomes for White, but not Black respondents. Heterogeneity is also seen in the relationship between competitiveness and level of education. Competitiveness is positively associated with education level for Black respondents, while this relationship is negative for White respondents.